a blog from Modern Quilt Studio

spring cleaning for your sewing machine

I’ve learned from teaching workshops that many sewers are hesitant to give their bobbin cases a good cleaning as often as they should. It seems as if some are afraid to remove the parts necessary to give their machines a good cleaning and others simply forget.

So my partner in crime, Bill, and I have put together a series of tips and photos that should help you get started. While there are a lot of different machines out there, we trust that you will be able to extrapolate the information here and consult your manual to figure out the differences between the machine we photographed and your own. If you have questions, don’t be shy about asking your machine repair person to show you some maintenance tips. They want your machine to run well. If you have other tips, please post them in the comment section. We’ve left the photos large so you can see the parts easily.

If you get in the habit of cleaning and oiling your machine every time you change the bobbin, you won’t forget when you last cleaned and oiled it. At first it may seem like a lot of steps but once you get used to it, the whole process takes less than a minute.

Here’s our general cleaning routine:

First, remove the foot and the needle.

Then remove the throat plate.

Remove the lint from the feed dogs and the area under the throat plate.

Wipe it down with a soft cloth and replace the throat plate.

Now direct your attention to the bobbin.

Remove the bobbin and lift the lever to gain access to the bobbin hook and race. Clean each part as you go with a small brush.

Remove the bobbin hook and wipe any lint off.

Inspect the hook for blunting, burring or damage at the point. This could cause skipped stitches, split threads or other problems. A new hook is about $70.

Use a pin to clean out the groove near the race that accumulates lint. Once it’s clean, place a drop of clear machine oil on the race. Replace the hook, close the latch and reinsert the bobbin.

If you have a thread cutter, remove it.

Clean the debris from the thread cutter and put it back in place.

Rub the side of your needle along the top of your fingernail. If there’s any mark left on your fingernail, it’s a sign that your needle has a burr and should be replaced.

Here are some additional Dos and Don’ts

DON’T use compressed air, it simply blows the dirt deeper into the machine. This can cause future problems or premature wear of hard-to-reach parts.

DO use vacuum attachments for small-scale cleaning. They are available online, at vacuum repair stores or often at computer stores (techies use them to clean keyboards and CPUs).

DO use clear machine oil, not yellow machine oil. Our machine repair guy, a second-generation sewing machine repair expert says that the yellow oils can gum up parts over time. He even said that although our Bernina’s manual states that oiling the hook race (the circular point inside which the hook rotates) is unnecessary, he advises using a small drop of oil from time to time. We’ve done so for years with no problems and it certainly makes it run more quietly.

Once your machine is clean, listen to the sound of it sewing. It should be more quiet. Try to remember this sound so you’ll know when it gets louder that it needs another cleaning.

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45 thoughts on “spring cleaning for your sewing machine”

Thanks very much for posting these tips on cleaning out the sewing machine! I typically perform all of the functions you noted, however, I had no idea that I could remove thread cutter! Go figure! I just removed it and there was a bunch of lint in there, as well as a whole piece of thread! Thank you, thank you!

thanks for the tutorial! Especially the part about when to change the needle. That was good info! Another tutorial on where to oil the common parts of the machine would also be helpful. Love your blog! Thanks again.

I was just about to buy compressed air for my new sewing machine. So glad I read this first. I have been using my little brush on the bobbin. Now I know to get some machine oil too. I wonder if they might sell it at the fabric store.

I so all you showed. HOWEVER, rather than use a pin to clean the race (the small track in the bobbin area) I use a small shish-ka-bob stick. A pin can scratch the area and the wooden stick cannot do. I also use this smae kind of stick for a guidence tool. My fingers don’t get pierced by a needle and if the needle hits the small pliable stick, we don’t have the damage that could happen if the needle hit a metal guide. Please, people, always wear your glasses or safety glasses while sewing. And if you hear grinding noises , it is probably your bobbin area pleading to be cleaned out!

Mom’s Smart Daughter is completely right about using something wooden (or another non-scratch) material to clean it up. I’ve scratched far too many things by using pins and needles on them, even if they were only hairline scratches. It’s worth spending a little longer to do it without causing any cosmetic damage.

Is there a manual that shows the part that holds the bobbin case in place? I have a Singer 4562 electronic sewing machine, and the bobbin case moves around. Would this be a small metal piece? I have someone that can replace this without a lot of expense if he has this information. Thank you so much for the cleaning information; however I cleaned it and evidently failed to put it back together correctly.

Is there a manual that shows the part that holds the bobbin case in place? I have a Singer 4562 electronic sewing machine, and the bobbin case moves around. Would this be a small metal piece? I have someone that can replace this without a lot of expense if he has this information. Thank you so much for the cleaning information; however I cleaned it and evidently failed to put it back together correctly.

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Thanks for the information! I know you said your Bernina’s manual said it wasn’t necessary – any thoughts on when the manual says specifically not to? I have a Brother with a top loading bobbin, and I figured it needed cleaning so I went ahead and bought the oil before reading the instructions – then of course it says not to use oil.